Annotated Transcript
On this page you will find the courses I took while in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University, organized by semester taken. I've included a brief synopsis of each course and what I learned along the way. To learn more about each course, click on underlined portion of the course title.
CEP = Counseling & Educational Psychology MI = Media and Information
Summer 2017
CEP 810 -- Teaching for Understanding with Technology
Instructors: Nicole Zumpano and Emily Stone
CEP 810 was my first course in the MAET program, and served as the perfect introduction to the skills and framework I would need to be successful in later MAET courses. In this course I learned the basics of how students learn, how to build my Professional Learning Network (PLN), and had my first peak at the TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) model which changed my personal views on technology in the classroom. In addition, I completed a Network Learning Project where I taught myself how to learn something new (Twitter chats) using only YouTube tutorials. Participating in Twitter Chats proved to be a game changer for my career since it allowed me to connect to educators all over the world and broaden my knowledge on technology tools and pedagogy.
CEP 811 -- Adapting Innovative Technologies in Education
Instructors: Janine Campbell and Edie Erickson
In this course I learned that "everything is a remix" which means that many "new" ideas are simply old ideas re-imagined. With this in mind, I was immersed in the world of maker culture where I experimented with new technologies (such as WeVideo, SketchUp, MakeyMakey kits, and Piktochart) in conjunction with theories of constructivism to create Maker lesson plans. This course pushed my creativity to the limits and changed my views on what educational technology is. For example, I learned that any technology could be remixed and integrated into the classroom, even if it was not intended for educational purposes.
CEP 812 -- Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice
Instructor: Ron Houtman
In CEP 812 I analyzed the art of creating "beautiful" questions. Specifically, I was in a group with three other students where we analyzed a "wicked" problem of failure as a learning mode. This question was considered "wicked" because it did not have a clear-cut, simple solution. While analyzing this question, my group and I surveyed fellow educators, interviewed students, created infographics, and, finally, compiled our results on a website. This course pushed me to view failure as a positive trait that could strengthen student learning.
CEP 822 -- Approaches to Educational Research
Instructors: Dr. E. David Wong, Cui Cheng, Ming Lei, & June Westdal
CEP 822 was my first foray into educational research. Prior to this course, I did not have any experience with statistics. By the end of the course, I felt comfortable using Google Sheets to calculate averages, standard deviations, and other inferential statistics while also extrapolating what the data implies. To show my skills in this area, I created a research review where I analyzed ten different educational research studies and identified if there were any significant benefits to using the flipped classroom model in the secondary classroom compared to a traditional classroom. While the results were mixed, I gained a lot of knowledge of flipped classrooms (as well as research expertise) along the way. This course gave me the confidence and skill to research additional educational topics in the future.
Fall 2017
MI 831 -- Theories of Games and Interaction for Design
Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth LaPensee
This course was the first of three that I completed to earn a certificate in Serious Game Design. Specifically, this course focused on different types of serious games and the research necessary to complete before creating this type of game. Some of the topics that I analyzed were educational games (for educational usage), awareness games (to make players aware of different cultures, history, or current life), and transformation games (which have an end-goal of creating change). This course opened my eyes to the variety of serious game types, which better prepared me to research and create my own serious game.
MI 841 -- Understanding Users
Instructor: Dr. Carrie Heeter
In order to create a great game, a designer needs to know his/her audience. With this in mind, this course centered on user experience. First, I completed ethnographic research on my audience (8th-12th graders) for a serious game. My design goal was to create an app to help readers determine if a book would be enjoyable to them. During the process of prototyping this app, I completed a task analysis (where I observed three potential users expressing their thoughts aloud while looking for a book in my library) to inform my design decisions. In addition, I created a competitive analysis where I looked at similar products on the market (such as Goodreads) to see how my product compared. This course taught me the steps that a game designer would take when creating a game, which prepared me immensely for MI 830.
Spring 2018
MI 830 -- Foundations of Serious Games
Instructor: Dr. Carrie Heeter
This course, which was the third and final course of the serious game design certificate, taught me the step-by-step process for creating my own serious game. For this course, I created a game called PunctuPLAYtion with a serious goal of students authentically practicing correct punctuation usage. This project began with the brainstorming process, where my ideas went through several iterations. After I had a working prototype of my game, I had several rounds of playtesting where, in-between sessions, I continued to revise my game. Finally, I created a pitch and website to publicize my game. This course taught me how to think gamefully with my audience in mind when creating a game, which will help me when I create games, lesson plans, and/or presentations in the future.
Summer 2018
CEP 800 - Learning in School and Other Settings
Instructors: Dr. Diana Brandon and Amit Sharma
Knowing how people learn, which was the main topic of this course, is an important topic for any educator to know. Throughout this course I reviewed several theories of learning, analyzed the differences in how novices learn compared to experts, and how students learn in schools compared to outside of school. I compiled all of my findings into a theory of learning which I used as a baseline to create a project-based learning unit for middle school students to complete during summer school. This course showed me how educational psychology theory can inform classroom decisions to increase learning.
CEP 820 - Teaching Students Online
Instructors: Dr. Anne Heintz and Cui Cheng
In this course I researched different models of online learning (such as fully online, blended, and flipped). With this knowledge in mind, I reviewed several Learning Management Systems (LMS) and to determine which one was best suited for my needs. I selected Schoology to create a flipped unit on persuasion to 8th grade students. This course made me fully aware of all of the design decisions that are necessary to create, and successfully implement, an online course.
CEP 807: Proseminar in Educational Technology
Instructors: Dr. Matthew Koehler, Spencer Greenhalgh, Sarah Keenan-Lechel, & Sukanya Moudgalya
This Capstone course served as my final course in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program. Throughout this course, I reviewed all of the past work that I accomplished throughout the MAET program and reflected on my growth as a learner and an educational technologist. The final project of this course was to create a digital portfolio, which you are currently viewing! In this portfolio I created several artifacts such as a resume, graduate showcase (where I showed off the best work I created in the MAET program) and reflection essays. This portfolio is truly the embodiment of all of my MAET knowledge!